Golf-club shaft



April 26,1927. 1,626,476 6 G. E. NICHOLLS GOLF CLUB SHAFT Filed March 11, 9

INVENTOR.

A TTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 26, 1927.

UNIT ET GILBERTE. NIoHoLLs, or niaenwoofi-ni-ronn'isnenn AssIGNoR'ro THE swinenirn 00., 1110., or PROVIDENCE, :RHODE'ISLAND, A coleroaA'rlonor RI-IODE ISLAND; f

Applicationjfiled lflarcli ilgisz'f. 3 Serial No;- 174,469!

Tliisinvention rel-ates to an improved construction of wooden shaft designed more particularly foruse in golf clubs ;-"and the object of" this invention is-to provide a golf cl ub shaft composed of a plurality of sectionsof wood of different textures and flexibility laidside byside, those sections to the rear of a transverse axial line through "the shaftbeing of one texture and a part of those sections on the front side of said line being of another texture, whereby" the flexibility of the shaft is controlled."

A "further" object of my presentunvention isto form the golf club shaft'of-a plurality of sections ofb'amboo andhiokory cemented'together, those sections located to the rear of a transverse axial line through the shaft being all o'rbamboo and a part only of "those on the front side ofthis line being of hickory.

A stillfurther object of the invention is. to position one section of bamboo on the front, centraldine of the shaft 'and to locatea' sectio'n'of hickory on either side of said front centralsection-of bamboo, the remainder of the shaftbei-ng formed of bamboo sections. With these and other objects in view, the'invention oonsists'of 'certa'in novel features ofconstr'uction, as will"be' more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims;

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is' a perspe'ctivewiewof a golf club having'a' shaft of 'my' improved construction. Y

Figure 2 is atop view of the' golf shaft looking at the endof the shaft and' showing av bamboo section as located on the front center line of the club and ahiclrory sectionshown in shaded lineson either'iside of said" front middlesection, the rest of the sections of the shaft being of bamboo.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a portion of one of the bamboo sections of the shaft. I

Figure 4 is a .perspective view of a-portion of one of the hickory sections of the shaft.

It is found in the building of a sectional golf club shaft, desirable to provide some means by which its flexibility may be nicely determined and controlled so that the desired stiffness in the different shafts may be obtained to suit the requirements of the applied to' the shaft to different players; For instance, "different players 'require what is known as the feel in the club, that issome players like the shaft-more whipp'y and flexible than others,

and it is found by experts in shafts of this character, that where a shaft is built up ent1rely' of bamboo strips; it is too stiff when wielded ina forward and backward in the'shaftto give therequ'ired feel to the club to satisfy these different players.

In other words, if the shaft is "tooflexible in forward and back directions it' springs or yields excessively and when. power is bring it downwar-d rapidly on its driyingistroke it bends backward and the head is late in coming in contact with' the' ball, which lateness :gives a-slice to the ballcausing it to curve out of a straight line; andthe following'is a detailed descriptionof one constru'ctionof golf= shaft by which this advlzltnlpageous flexibility may be built into the s':at: I V

VV ithreference-tothe drawings,-1O desig-' hates the shaft of a golf club having-ahead 11' which maybe of wood orfmetal as is desired, the body ,of the shaftpoitio'r'ilO being'made up of from a plurality of sections 12 of wood, eachof which is of' sector shape to fit closely "in contiguous relation throughout its'length'tojointly form-a cylin'drical body which-may be slightly tapered, end to endas desired and-as illustrated in Figure 1.

direction for the majority of players and Thesections-13 of the sha'ft'her'einshown are of'bam'boo'whi'ch as is known isrelaform some of these sections 15 of hickory,

and in order to produce just the proper feel in the club, I have herein shown the shaft as made up of six sections, those three but prevent slicing and yet is sufficiently verse axis through the shaft being of the stiff in a lateral direction vto prevent excessive .tortion of the shaft when the face 18 of the club head 11 comes indriving contact with the-ball. V 3

- In some instances, it is found that the placing of a bamboo section on the front center line of the shaft and then placing hickory sections on either side thereof and forming the rest of the shaft to the rear of the transverse center line of the shaft and then placing hickory sections on either side thereof and forming the rest of the shaft to the rear of the transverse center line of bamboo, I obtain just the desired.

feel and flexibilit or ,Whi) which ives the club just'the proper amount of whip to suit the requirements of many players.

tions to the rear of a transverse axial line through the shaft being of one texture, and a part of those sections at the 'frontvside of said'line being of wood of a different j texture, the sections of said two different In my improved shaft, it will be seen that p I have provided novel means for obtaining a definiteamount of flexibility or whip in the forward direction and at the same time have preserved the necessary stiffness in the shaft in the other direction to obtain the desired driving power at the time of impact upon the ball, thus eliminatingthose undesirable qualities in the shaft which causes imperfect driving. g

The foregoing description is directed solely towards the construction illustrated, but I desire it to be understood thatl reserve the privilege of resorting to all the mechanical changes to which the device is susceptible, the invention being defined and limited onlyby the terms of the'appended claims.

I claim: if v '1. A shaft for golf clubs comprising a plurality of sections of wood of two different degrees of resiliency cemented together, all of those sections to the rear of the transwoods having adjacent surfaces in planes passing substantially thru the axis of the shaft.

I 3. A shaft for golf clubs comprising a plurality of sect-ions of bamboo and hickory cemented together those sections located to the rear of the transverse axial line through the shaft being all of bamboo and part of those on the front side'of said line being of hickory, the sections of said two diflera ent; woods having surfaces in )lanes passing substantially thru the axis of the shaft.

4. A shaft for golf clubs comprising a plurality of sections of bamboo and hickory cementedtogether all of those sections located toflthe rear of a transverse axial line through the'shaft being of bamboo and a majority of those forward of said line being of hickory, the sections of said two different woods having adjacent surfaces in planes passing substantially thru the axis ofthe shaft. I

. 5. Afshaft for golf clubs comprising a plurality of sections of bamboo and hickory cemented together all ,ofIthose sections 10- catedtothe rear of atransverse axial line through the shaft being of bamboo, one section of bamboo "beingon thesfront center i line of the shaftand a section of hickory ture. v

GILBERT E. NICHOLLS. I

I my sigma being located on either side of said front 

